


Stay for the Sweets and Everything Else

by femellerklem



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Like A Teeny Tiny Bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25271980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/femellerklem/pseuds/femellerklem
Summary: Scorpius faces a moment of sheer terror.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy & Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Stay for the Sweets and Everything Else

**Author's Note:**

> I've been dealing with awful, awful writer's block for the past two months, so I promised myself that if I managed to write even one story, I would post it. So here it is! It's been through less editing than some of my other stuff, and I have no idea why this story managed to get finished before the WIPs I've had for half a year, but I'm proud of finishing it nonetheless. So please enjoy this pointless first-year Scorbus fluff!

This was it. This was the end of their friendship.

They had been sitting outside gorging themselves on sweets when it happened. Scorpius had been telling Albus about the time one of his dad’s peacocks had gotten into a fight with a garden gnome, standing up and spreading his flailing arms out wide to demonstrate, when he suddenly felt the back of his hand hit Albus’s face with a sharp thud. Albus dropped his chocolate frog with a yelp and covered his nose. Scorpius panicked.

“Al! Oh my goodness, are you alright? I’m so sorry. What happened? I’m so sorry; I’m so so so sorry, that was all my fault. Are you bleeding? Is it broken? Because if it is I’m sure there’s at least some pain potion somewhere; I would do the spell but I’m not sure I can do it right so I’d probably make it worse and I’m so sorry; I should have been more careful…”

What had his father constantly told him? _Be careful, Scorpius. Don’t swing your legs, Scorpius; you might kick someone. Watch where you’re moving your arms, Scorpius. No, you can’t hug the peacocks, Scorpius. Do you know how valuable that crystal is, Scorpius? No running down the stairs, Scorpius. You might break something. Not everything can be fixed with magic. Don’t hug your mum too tight, Scorpius. She’s sick. You could hurt her._

Albus still had a hand over his face as tears began to well in his eyes. Scorpius felt his stomach drop; he looked around the grounds wildly for anyone who might know how to fix a broken face without causing permanent damage, when he noticed Al’s shoulders shaking and his eyes scrunching up the way they did when he smiled.

“Erm…Albus?”

But even though they’d been friends for less than a year, Scorpius could recognize Albus’s laugh anywhere. When he uncovered his mouth, any sign of pain had vanished. His laughter was bright and full— not loud or obnoxious but definitely not what you’d expect from someone as unassuming and reserved. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, still giggling as he finally met Scorpius’s still-bewildered eyes. “I’m fine, it’s just…” he looked away and sighed, just barely managing to collect himself. “I’ve never had someone apologize that much for accidentally hitting me in the face.” Scorpius felt his own face heat up, but Albus was smiling at him— a real, wide smile that reached his shining eyes. “And I’ve been accidentally hit in the face a _lot._ ”

“That’s awful!” said Scorpius before he could help himself. To his surprise, Albus laughed again.

“Nah, it’s fine. James only apologizes if our parents make him or if he thinks he’s going to get in trouble. And it’s usually an accident anyway.”

“Really? Because sometimes it seems like you guys fight all the time.”

“Nah, we just hate each other in the normal brotherly way.”

Scorpius thought that sounded even more alarming. “Okay…”

Albus grinned again. “It’s fine; I promise. The worst injury I’ve had was a broken wrist from falling out of a tree that James told me to climb. He actually felt bad after that one.”

Scorpius stared at him. “Having siblings sounds way too stressful, Albus. I don’t know how you deal with it.”

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to be a good actor. Luckily James has a reputation for being crazy, so if something happens, the grownups usually believe my side of the story anyway. One time, when we were playing at the creek, I convinced my parents that James pushed me into the water even though I’d actually just slipped because we were arguing about something. I got to have extra dessert that night and James got none.”

“Wow,” said Scorpius. “Maybe you’re a Slytherin after all.”

Albus laughed, but it wasn’t the same as before. It was somewhere between a scoff and disbelieving amusement, and Scorpius noticed that it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Or maybe he was just overthinking everything and Albus had actually found his comment hilarious. That would be nice. 

“Are you sure I didn’t hurt you?” asked Scorpius, since he had never actually gotten an answer. “Because if I did I’m really, really—” 

“ _Yes,_ ” said Albus, rolling his eyes and giving Scorpius a rare exasperated grin. Scorpius smiled back. “I’m fine. Do you want another chocolate frog?”

“Sure,” said Scorpius. “You know, you never actually told me where you got all the sweets.”

“James gave them to me,” Albus said, jumping up to catch a particularly excitable chocolate frog. “For no reason! I didn’t have to annoy him for it or bribe him or anything.”

“That was nice of him, then.”

“Yeah, I know. He’s an annoying idiot a lot of the time, but at least we know each other’s favorite foods.”

Scorpius shook his head. “I can’t decide if I want a sibling or not. You and James confuse me.”

Albus grinned as he bit off the frog’s head. “My dad says the same thing sometimes,” he said. “Mum gets it, though. She says my uncles fought all the time when they were younger. Even now they still argue about dumb sibling stuff.”

“More exciting than my family,” said Scorpius, ripping open a package of jelly slugs. “Don’t get me wrong; my parents are the best and I miss them a lot, but it’s really just us, you know? It’s…quiet.” 

“I wish my family was quiet,” said Albus. “Plus, there’s nothing boring about a peacock fighting a garden gnome. You never got to finish the story. What happened after the gnome grabbed the tail feathers?”

Scorpius grinned.

“Absolute _chaos._ ”

As he finished the story, Scorpius was very, very careful not to accidentally hit Albus in the face again, though the relief that Albus hadn’t been upset lifted a weight off his shoulders that he didn’t even know he’d had, a weight that seemed to drift away in the wind with the sound of their intertwined laughter.

**Author's Note:**

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